Your account of your horse’s improvement sounds like an endorsement for the Masterson method, good farrier work, and appropriate diet adjustments.
36 Likes
Y’all please be kind. Many people who turn to stuff like this do it out of DESPERATION which is exactly the word the last poster used. You all know what it’s like to have the NQR horse who you’ve gone down every rabbit hole with the vet and it’s not stupid or ignorant to want to try some simple groundwork exercises, especially if other trusted equestrians say that it works.
Also it’s perfectly ok for people to not be focused on showing and riding and still want their horse to be as comfortable and sound as possible. Not loving the way people on here talk about older adult riders who aren’t necessarily ~progressing up the levels~… maybe they just simply don’t care about that??
20 Likes
I’m going to answer this from my dairy cow experience and from my horse observations post dairy cow enlightening 
Lameness in dairy cows is measured by the way they stand. If they are square with no weight displacement to medial or lateral claws they are sound. This transfers (imo) to horses. If a horse is standing (not grazing) anywhere (field, dry lot, stall, crossties) and has 4 legs firmly planted underneath them at the 4 corners, they are pretty darned sound. If they have a leg that is often outside of that 4-corners rectangle, there may very well be a problem somewhere. The extent of that problem can be as slight as very minorly uneven muscling or a learned stance (posture) from having an extended period of lameness, or it can be pointing to an actual current lameness. That said, consideration for sleeping while standing needs to be taken into account! It’s just those moments of standing around perfectly awake that I’m talking about.
12 Likes
This. This thread has prompted me to finally post after years of lurking. I see several veteran posters being pretty cruel. To answer the OP.
I paid for the masterclass group after spending a year doing everything I possibly could to get my mare rideable and sound after she broke down. By the time I joined the class I had already made major strides, but I was curious. $150 dollars is a drop in the bucket! I pay more for shoes every four weeks and I’m still not 100% happy with my farrier.
I found that the information in the series of videos was useful at connecting the dots for me from a functional anatomy standpoint. Could I have learned it all somewhere else? Absolutely! But I found the information was presented in a way that made sense to me and confirmed a lot of what I had already learned from a slightly different place. The pillar work is very very basic stuff but valuable for people who don’t have any access to good training. I found it to be useful for identifying and isolating the muscle groups that I’m trying to build up, and it explained the “why” of a lot of the work I do with my trainer.
Unlike some posters suggest, I have done the hard work to assemble a team and program that works for my horse. Part of doing that includes educating myself. Learning about the way the muscles in the thoracic sling are supposed to work explained a lot about why my mare was so damaged to begin with (kissing spines, neck arthritis). It improved my ability to understand what my trainer is trying to teach me, it improved the way I communicate with my vet, farrier, and bodyworker, and it helped me really understand how my equipment might affect my horse. Instead of just focusing on strengthening the “core” I am thinking more about how to make it easier for my mare to lift through the sternum and abduct her forelegs. It’s not rocket science but it is helpful.
I wouldn’t pay for a 1:1 session, and the nerve release stuff is probably a LOT like masterson which I already do for my mare (love it, game changer). I have barely even revisited the masterclass group after consuming the lectures and guides, but I found that was worth the $150 dollars—though I’d pay less for a book and it would probably be easier to digest.
Couldn’t care less about her neuropsychiatric qualifications in the above context. Would never shell out thousands for her course without more clarity on that though. I also hate group work so I don’t post in there or chat with people. Pretty much everything in the modern horse industry feels like an MLM scheme to me anyway.
Anyway, sharing this to answer the question in the OP for any future readers information.
8 Likes
Eh. If you had to spend money on ONE thing to help your horse if you didn’t have access to a trainer, this would NOT be what would help you. There are a lot more variables into developing a strong, sound horse than the “thoracic sling”. It’s cool if some people got some new info out of it, but I have yet to see anything that justifies 150 bucks (which is NOT a drop I’m the bucket for the average person that’s trying to budget). If you have disposable income and want to throw it at random unproven stuff, that’s your prerogative. A lot of people here won’t waste money on very sketchy sounding things that are at least half incorrect.
16 Likes
Who owns a horse and only spends money on one thing for them? Never suggested it for someone who can’t afford it, but if $150 dollars is a stretch for someone then they definitely should not be spending money on any online education vs. things like farriery and tack.
In fact I don’t really “suggest” joining the group at all—but the information (in the guides) isn’t unproven—it’s all basic anatomy stuff, just put in one place for people to access in a more approachable way than a textbook. The “pillar work” is really just three things: relax the under neck muscles, teach the horse to shift it’s COG back from the poll to the withers, and then ask them to step out and maintain their balance (eventually on a circle) —all without bracing. Very basic but helpful when broken down like that, and demystifies how classical dressage training works.
I also don’t care if “thoracic sling” is a new buzzword. It’s important to talk about and focusing on it has improved my mare’s life drastically. Years of being told to ride back to front without really understanding that the front needs to be able to lift to let all that energy go somewhere that doesn’t hurt the horse. Too many hours going “forward” at the hands of bad instructors who encouraged harsh bits and gadgets on a horse that was tripping over herself. Most amateurs are lucky if they find a good trainer, sadly, and even luckier if the horse they have isn’t already terribly broken.
If my eyes were opened late, at least they were opened. Learning is different for everyone.
7 Likes
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the “broken” nuchal ligament at C-3.
29 Likes
Added italics for ease of understanding but without completely omitting the context – Does she teach that some/most horses’ COG is currently at the poll? If yes, then 
that makes one of her foundation teachings not correct. Generally, the only time I’ve seen a horse whose center of gravity is at the poll, they are VERY sedated. Think pre-anesthesia.
I would say that horse who is on the forehand’s COG is at the withers (base of) and an FEI horse’s COG is probably closer to where the thoracic and lumbar spine meet.
18 Likes
I don’t blame clients who have faith in this woman’s alleged professional qualifications for believing there is such a thing…
But…
I do judge the horse witch for talking about this. Because it sounds ignorant of basic anatomy.
It sounds really ignorant.
My guess is the ‘professional’ person running around chattering about ‘broken’ nuchal ligaments is long on personality and theatrics… but pretty short on intellect and education.
12 Likes
It doesn’t just sound ignorant!
8 Likes
Oh come on, you’re a vet. You should get this stuff! 
14 Likes
And in all seriousness (unlike my response to Ghazzu), have you had a chiropractor assess and adjust? I ask because I know someone who had a horse come in out of turnout with a similar thing (it was one sided though) and some stretching followed by a weird pop ( :o ) removed it.
2 Likes
Yes, I do think you are being a little pedantic, but that is more accurate. I don’t teach the stuff I just am tryin to translate it. The point is, she wants you to teach your horse to shift their weight back, lift through the sternum using their pecs and all the other muscles I can’t remember right now, instead of bracing and using the under neck muscles for balance, and being able to abduct without losing balance and bracing. Like I said, it’s not rocket science and it makes a lot of sense in the context of what most amateurs understand already. Not all of us are vets and most vets don’t even begin to talk to their clients about anatomy (mine does, he’s awesome).
4 Likes
Ha! You make a very good point!
I assume she knows she’s spouting bull 
… so I wanted to make the point that she needs to realize it doesn’t even sound convincing… but sometimes people begin to believe their own bull Maybe that’s part of the problem. 
5 Likes
If I had a nickel for every time I saw a horse person spending money on unproven, random, even gimmicky things to try to make their horse more comfortable or happier or have an easier life I’d probably actually be able to afford another horse 
and 150 bucks is a lot cheaper than something like, a full body MRI scan at the local university vet! Please chill with the judgmental attitude.
And I’m not a traveling horse witch subscriber just to clarify, but I do know several well educated and experienced horse people who have tried it, some found it valuable and some didn’t. Yes it’s expensive and gimmicky and silly but I don’t judge those people for trying it, any more than I would judge people who have tried any of the MANY other weird horse products and services that are out there.
3 Likes
There’ s a reason that every large tack catalog has 100’s of bits. And there is a new saddle, girth, Pessoa rig, bungee, bridle design, shock absorbing saddle pad, gut health supplement, nutraceutical oil, blah blah blah showing up on the market non stop. People would much rather try a gadget, than build a skill.
I make exceptions for truly remarkable daily tools like a hoof jack or Pivo. Which are truly genius products.
But much of the remainder are gimmicks at best.
4 Likes
Wait?
I have been doing it wrong all these years?
My saddle is supposed to stay up there some how without a girth?
4 Likes
Disagree with you on this. I think most horse people are constantly trying a large combination of different things, including pieces of tack, supplements, and other products, AND trying to build their skills at the same time. There’s a lot of new technology and products that we didn’t have 20 years ago and I think it’s ok if people want to try different things?? It doesn’t mean they’re stupid??
13 Likes
Yep. I’m going to be quicker to judge you for buying a super super special girth to compensate for your atrociously poor saddle fit, than I am if you’re out there trying to learn something. For sure.
5 Likes
A girth, yes. Denali Equine has some good video and necropsy video footage explaining the dis function of many ‘new/groundbreaking/high end’ girth designs.
Consumers are very willing to try out tack that has been designed by (apparently ) folks without any consideration for the horse’s anatomy.
1 Like
